Thread: Poor drainage and sticky grey clay

We have gotten a ton of snow and rain lately and thing have stayed very wet. We haven't put mowers on lawns in weeks for fear of rutting.

This is my personal lawn. You can see the wet "river" that is shown by discoloration of the Bermuda. It's looked like this for a while. It stays very wet and the area is a little lower than the surrounding area. It may just be where all the water collects after rains. If you look carefully there may even be some green algae showing up!!

What I've tried...

Last year I core aerated the area 2-3 times during the growing season.

A few weeks ago I tried to do some dry wells. It was a little muddy and I thought a good time. I started to dig and had good topsoil about 4-6 inches. Then actually hit a dry hard grey soil. Once I broke through that hit the stagnat sticky grey clay. It was so wet that it stuck to my post hole diggers and I could just ouch it though the clay.

I dug done about the length of the post hole diggers. Since the ground was so saturated I expected the holes to fill up with water but after 10 minutes or so there was maybe an inch. I filled with rock and pea gravel hoping to create a place to catch some water. I dug 3 wells in an area that might be 2-3k

What's the cure-----??

--So I'm thinking of top dressing that area when it starts greening up? Maybe raise the height so water will absorb or drain better?

-- more wells? Fill with compost instead of rock?

-- thought about French drain but I don't have anywhere to move water to. If 8-12" down is clay would it really work?

Can I add amendments or improve the soil structure? Soil test showed lime needed last year and I applied it. Have taken another soil test this year and awaiting results.